Withering and Growth
by AlphaChaser
Summary: (Post-Beacon Incident 5 months) Ruby has been venturing with Team RNJR in order to keep the ever-expanding dark forces from bringing chaos into the Kingdoms. Desperate to re-form Team RWBY, Ruby sets out to seek out the partners she cares most deep about (Rated T for now)
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I do not own RWBY

Chapter 1

" _Ruby! You're not allowed to use your semblance in this kind of sparring!" a certain ivory-haired heiress scolded, picking herself up from the ground._

" _Aww, why not?" Ruby pouted, falling back from her fighting stance "It's not my fault you're such a slowpoke!" which earned her a glare from the heiress._

 _Weiss quickly dusted off her white combat skirt she was widely known for "If I were to use my semblance, you would've been a dolt-sicle." She mocked, Ruby smirking at the threat._

" _I'll make you take back those words after I kick your butt again!" Ruby shifted her foot back preparing to attack, Weiss readied herself, bringing herself to a defensive stance._

" _No holds barred?" Ruby asked, the heiress only nodding in response. The brunette smirked._

 _Ruby lunged forward delivering a swift kick straight for Weiss' stomach, forcing the girl to summon a protective glyph, Ruby expected this, using her semblance to quickly retrieve her leg, spun and launching her other leg for a hook kick. The heiress smirked, dropping to the ground and swept her legs across the floor, Ruby grunted and hopped from the swift leg aiming to trip her, launching herself. Ruby instantly notices Weiss' smirk on her face as a glyph appeared just underneath her, Ruby looked up and sees the same design, amazed at how Weiss' figured out on how to gain an advantage of her semblance and her inability to use it mid-air._

 _Her mind was racing, thinking of any scheme that could protect herself from the axe kick aiming straight for her, 'Well,' Ruby thought, 'we did agree to no holds barred, right?' as she slung Crescent Rose from her holder attachment on her hip, and pursued to block off the deadly kick with the snath of her scythe._

 _Weiss landed gracefully on her feet, well it would've been graceful if it weren't for the angry scowl on her face. "You absolute dolt! I am one-hundred percent sure I did not say yes to weapons." Weiss deadpanned, causing Ruby to shrink in place._

" _Well, you didn't say no either?" Ruby tried defending herself, in a cautious tone, not wanting to upset the heiress any more than she already has. Even with her scowling face and knowing Ruby will face her wrath from this, she has to admit Weiss looked rather cute when angry._

" _Fine." Weiss muttered she turned around away from Ruby, letting the brunette glance and Weiss' swaying hips while walking, but quickly looked up when the heiress turned back around, seeing Weiss's annoyed expression_

" _Ruby Rose," the huntress in training called out, "As the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, I will defeat you here and now!" she drew Myrtenaster, the Dust capsules already rotating._

 _Ruby giggled at the older girl's confidence, "Well as sister of Yang, and leader of Team RWBY, I will defeat my partner!"_

 _Weiss gave her a confused look, "How does this relate to Yang?"_

" _Cus I'm related to her, duh." Ruby explained as if it was the most obvious thing in Remnant. Weiss rolled her eyes._

" _If I win this, you're giving up a cookies for a month!" Weiss declared, Ruby gasped, surprised how her partner can be that ruthless." Y-you monster!"_

 _Ruby continued a smirk appearing on her face once again, "But, If I win you give me unlimited cookies for a year! And you have to feed them to me!" Weiss's face immediately heated up, her pole face making it very noticeable. The mere thought of her, a high class heiress feeding some clumsy, annoying, but surprisingly cu-WHAT?! She shook her head and readied herself_

" _F-fine! As a Schnee I never go back on my word!" Weiss proclaimed._

" _Hehe." Ruby didn't hear Weiss's statement about Schnee pride or wherever, she was lost in her thoughts of cookies and milk, and Weiss. She was practically drooling._

" _Ahem!" Weiss loudly cleared her throat, "We have a battle to get to!"_

" _Oh, right!" Ruby replied as she readied Crescent Rose._

" _A mock battle, eh?" a voice called from the entrance of the sparring rooms. Startling both Ruby and Weiss._

" _You big oaf! Don't scare us like that!" Weiss growled, electing a laugh from the blonde haired girl, with her black-haired Faunus following shortly, her eyes focused on a book, "What are you two doing here anyway?" Yang asked._

" _Just a bit of sparring practice before the tournament." Ruby answered, stretching her muscles, "you guys too."_

" _Yes." Blake answered with her usual calm, bland voice._

" _Anyways since you're starting soon. Need a countdown?"_

" _Sure!" Ruby said happily, "Watch out Weiss, try not to be so down when I win."_

 _Weiss smirked, "We'll see." She said with feigned anger._

 _Yang held up 3 fingers, "Three!"_

" _Two!"_

" _One!" after the last finger when down she brought her hand down, "Go!"_

 _Ruby charged her strength preparing for the clash. That is until a voice interrupted her, causing her to trip._

"Ruby!"

* * *

"Ruby!"

The first thing that came to Ruby's mind was how bright it was, the tent's nylon doing little to block out the sun's ray. She brought the nearest soft object she could feel and brought it over her head, this case being a pillow. She was about to fall asleep again until a figure entered the tent.

"Ruby! Breakfast is ready!" they called, Ruby grunted in response, wanting to spend more time with dream Weiss. "C'mon Ruby! There's even cookies!" Ruby didn't budge.

"Wow! Ruby…REFUSING COOKIES!?" Nora chimed in with Ren by her side, "HAS THIS WORLD GONE MAD?!"

"Yes, Nora the world isn't in best conditions right now." Ren said in his usual monotone voice.

"C'mon Ruby, sleeping all day isn't good for you." Jaune pleaded, shaking Ruby a bit. The brunette flipped upwards from her sleeping position staring daggers into Jaune.

"I was having a dream!" Ruby snapped, she glared at Jaune, who slowly backed off not to bother the aggravated once student of Beacon academy, "sorry…" she muttered apologetically

"Something eating you?" Jaune asked with the other team members, as they all relaxed.

"It's just…I miss them, Jaune. I miss my sister, I miss Blake, I miss…Weiss." Ruby felt her eyes becoming misty, clutching herself, finding her body cold and unwelcoming, "I thought we'd be a team forever and ever. All four of us, kicking Grimm butt, graduate together and live together like one big family." She smiled of the thought of that actually becoming a reality, until the same reality hits her in the face, "Who am I kidding that's as possible as flying right now, and all because of…her." She sighed

"Her" refers to Cinder, the supposed ringleader of the incident of Beacon, causing mayhem within Beacon, included in her destruction. Ruby noticed something odd about Cinder when they first met, something in her eyes that triggers something in her brain, not the mention the cold, fake smile she always had, not to mention her two goonies, Mercury and Emerald, the image of those three brought shivers to Ruby's spine. Every single team from Beacon went their own separate ways to tend with their own situations, unless they kept in touch in some way with other teams, fighting off any Grimm that they could see dangerously close to civilians. Grimm sightings became much more frequent in towns within the border of the four kingdoms. Guards were staying for longer hours and more and more Hunts were appearing around every town, causing Huntsman and Huntresses to seek out Grimm, graduated or not.

Due to Yang's physical and mental state to not be up to their usual standards, she requested to be left alone at the , Nora, Jaune and Ren all banded together after the beacon incident and for the past 5 months have been watching out for the kingdoms borders to keep Grimm activity as stable as possible. It was heartbreaking to see burned-down towns, the population forced to evacuate to the main kingdoms and live their lives out as outpost guards.

Ruby brought her hood up and stared at the floor, not wanting anyone to see the weak state she was in.

"It's just so unfair. To everyone in Remnant," Ruby said with a broken voice, "Because of one person's hatred for peace, they would cause all this." Ruby wiped her eyes.

"Blake's gone, Yang refuses to leave home and Weiss is…" She didn't want to think about how stressful her best friend's life must be with everything, not to mention lonely. "And…Phyrrha…" she could barely muttered. Feeling far too ashamed of not saving the girl when she had the chance, instead watching Cinder launch a bow at her chest.

The four surrounded Ruby trying to give any form of comfort they can, even Nora who was usually in her silly mood, couldn't help but frown at the sorrow of her friend and now teammate.

The three sat in uncomfortable silence, a sniffle heard here and there. Jaune slowly rose up from the tent floor and went to step outside

"It's ok though right?" Jaune spoke up the three teammates staring at him curiously, "we're going to Atlas today."

The realization hit Ruby like a truck. A smile creeping up on her face. She was going to see Weiss again. She'll get Team RWBY back at all cost.

 **A/N** : Holy shit that was messy. Hope that wasn't too bad. Review please. See ya in next chapter I guess


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I do not own RWBY

Chapter 2

Ruby tapped her foot nervously on the airship floor, transportation becoming much stricter about any suspicious people and/ or items that were going on-board. The huntress and her fellow partner's weapons just barely passed through security until they were all identified of old students of Beacon academy.

'I get to see Weiss today. I wonder how she is now…" she thought. Memories of her petite, rather short partner. Ruby was able to gain the height advantage near the end of their first semester, even with the inclusion of her high heels. Ruby smiled at the remembrance of her teasing of the white-haired girl, with her famous annoyed scowl.

She held on tightly onto the small box sitting on her lap, tugging the ribbons on top of the box, making sure it was secure. She looked up at her teammates who were staring at her with worried eyes.

"She's going to say yes, Ruby, so try to relax a bit, ok?" Jaune said with a re-assuring squeeze on the shoulder. Ruby gave him a small nod

"Yeah why wouldn't she say no? You two are like the best of friend's everrr!" Nora chimed in, petting Ruby added, "It's not like anything will get in the way of your friendship unless it's literally anyth-!" Nora's mouth was quickly shut by Ren who simply shook his head in disapproval.

"Right, sorry." Nora rubbed her neck awkwardly.

"It's ok Nora." Ruby gave her a re-assuring smile.

The loudspeaker suddenly spoke "Attention passengers, we'll be arriving at Atlas shortly, please make sure to not leave any personal belongings on the airship."

Ruby couldn't believe her eyes, Atlas was an absolutely beautiful sight to take in. The gentle layer of snow on every building and on the grass gave the futuristic-looking buildings a rather festive look. She also noticed another thing, she was shivering.

"W-Weiss g-grew up h-here?!" Jaune barely managed to get out, "I c-can't feel my anything!"

Even with an addition of a snow coat to Ruby's clothing, as well as her hood she should be able to bear with any amount of cold thrown at her.

So why did she feel like what Weiss would call a dolt-sicle?"

"It's ok guys, we won't be long." Ren looks unaffected from the cold, causing him the other members of RNJR to cuddle up close to him as if he were a heat lamp.

"Uh, guys?" Ren spoke up, "We're not really doing anything to get Weiss."

Ruby quickly broke off from the "group hug." "Alright team, Operation get Weiss back and then chew her out a little is officially a go!" she beamed.

"Did you just make up that operation?" Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose

"Noooo?" Ruby replied a little too innocently, "A-Anyway that's besides the p-point. This is a simple operation, we all split up in search of Weiss or any clues that could lead to her." The team nodded in understanding.

"Easy as pancakes!" Nora crossed her arms, a determined smile on her face.

"Don't you mean pie, Nora?" Ren asked.

"I'm in the mood for pancakes!"

Team RJR rolled their eyes, "You're always in the mood for pancakes!" Jaune called out.

"Back on topic, where are we supposed to go look?" Ren asked

Ruby shrugged, "Dunno, anywhere really, try to find anything that relates with the Schnee Dust Company."

"Like that big building over there?" Nora pointed over to a tall skyscraper, "Schnee Dust Company," clearly labeled with white-outlined letters on the top-right corner of the building.

"E-exactly!" Ruby responded, embarrassed of her absence of mind.

"How did we not see that?" Jaune groaned, earning awkward chuckles from the rest of the team.

"And even if we manage to acquire Weiss, where are we supposed to stop and rest?"

Ruby brought her hand up to her chin, seeming she was in deep thought, the team waited patiently, after five minutes of unbroken silence Ruby spoke up, "No idea, never thought we'd get this far honestly." Jaune's eye twitched.

"No more distractions, our main priority is Weiss!" Ruby stood with a straight pose and pointed at the building, "If you manage to find her, contact the rest of the team, got it?" NJR nodded valiantly.

* * *

Ruby was all out of ideas. She had looped up down around the skyscraper without getting as a much of a hint where Weiss might be. She groaned as she came back from her 4th lap around the building with no information obtained. Then as if some universal force noticed her dismay, they gave her some best news she has heard in months.

"Will you be attending the Winter Ball?" Ruby peeked around the corner of the building, to see two men dressed in suits having a conversation, seemingly just leaving from work.

"I guess I have to, apparently Renan has some important announcement about the company,"

"It's being held at Schnee Manor tonight, formal clothing is mandatory."

"Damn, I don't know if I have any spare tuxes laying around."

Ruby quickly cutting off the conversation from her head she swiftly accessed her scroll.

Ruby-Guys I heard two office workers talking about some Winter Ball

Jaune-U just found out?

Ruby-What do you mean?

Ren-Look at your messages

Confused, Ruby checked at all her messages until she saw un-read one from Jaune. Two hours ago

Jaune-The front desk told us about some Winter Ball Weiss is attending, the front desk told us.

…

Ruby-I didn't see that. My scroll speaker must've broke or something

Jaune-Well since you know now, we're at the bakery just across the street'

Ruby-WHAT?! Why are you at a bakery?!We are on a dire mission! Time is at our essence…or something like that.

Ren-"the essence."

Nora

Ruby-Nora. Don't you dare.

Nora-CHOCOLATE CHIP!

Ruby -Freshly baked?

Nora-Yep!

Ruby-Just a quick break is ok, right?

* * *

Ruby was in the bakery not too long after that devouring cookies one by one. Enjoying every single bite of the freshly baked treat. The calm atmosphere of her team casually talking, well casual as you can get when there's not much to talk about.

"Don't we have to buy another tent for Weiss?" Jaune took a sip of tea, immediately spitting it out when his face tensed, "How do you drink this slop?!. The other members laughed at his disgust for the beverage. "Bleh, anyway, isn't Weiss super claustrophobic? She probably needs her own tent to sleep in." Much to his annoyance the team was barely listening instead focusing on their own concerns.

"Darn! The map doesn't show Schnee Manor anywhere here!" Ruby groaned, fiddling with the navigational piece of paper.

Ren slowly turned the piece of paper counter-clockwise while in Ruby's hand, "That's because it's upside down, Ruby." The leader's face looking a bit redder than usual.

"O-of course, thank you for your assistance."

Team Ruby all turned toward the door as the soft jingling of the bell sounded.

"Yes I'm here to pick up a cake, reserved for Renan Schnee"

Ruby silver eyes went wide eyed when she took in the sight.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I do not own RWBY  
Chapter 3

Those captivating blue eyes caught Ruby off guard, but frowned when she noticed bags growing under her eyes. She also immediately noticed Weiss's was no longer wearing her blue and white combat skirt she sported in Beacon, the modified version she is currently wearing having much more distinguishable light blue dress with a dark blue shrug worn over the dress. Ruby frowned once she glanced over at Weiss' face noticing dark bags hidden underneath concealer. She did feel rather contempt now that Weiss is here.

Wait.

WEISS IS HERE!

"Get down!" Ruby whispered loudly to her teammates, who all gave her a confused look but chose to follow her request anyway, the four teammates quickly hiding beneath the small booth. Jaune bumped his head on the edge of the table halfway, eliciting a groan from him. He joined the rest of his team who were huddled gym style on the floor.

"Why are we hiding?" Jaune whispered quietly.

"We can't let her know we're here!" Ruby whispered back.

"Why not?"

"We can't just make her come with us under her driver's nose!" Ruby explained, "Her father will chase her til the ends of Remnant!"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Ren joined in

"OH I KN-!" Nora almost yelled causing three hands to shut her mouth, they could tell she was pouting from her mouse shifting between their hands.

"Simple. We follow her car to Schnee Manor and then we…we…umm yea." Ruby muttered the last part.

"You did not think this through didn't you?" Jaune shook his head

"I was going to say kidnap her but I got a gut feeling she'll agree to tag along."

Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose, "Fine, we'll work a plan when we get there."

The sound of bells allowed RNJR to bring their heads out of the table, Weiss was no longer there. They had to act fast. Quickly emerging from the table, Ren threw Lien at the cashier, giving them a confused look

"Thanks for the cookies!" Ruby happily waved before running out the door with her other teammates.

* * *

"H-h-holy! Why is it so cold!?" Jaune yelled out, hugging himself, "I'm gonna get hypothermia before we even get there!"

"Not on my watch!" Ruby cheerily grinned, before waving at approaching cars, "Taxi!" Ruby attempted to whistle with her fingers, but what came out was air. The driver noticed anyway, stopping on the side of the road.

The driver was a blonde-haired man, with gray eyes, strongly resembling sun aside from wearing closed clothing and short hair "Hello. Where would you like to go to-."

"Schnee Manor, please!" Ruby quickly cut him off, the driver simply gave her a curt nod

The team squeezed inside the car

"Ow! Jaune move over!" Ruby growled

"I can't, I don't even know if I can move at all!" he replied

"PANCAKES!"

"Nora we just ate…" Ren replied

"You can never have enough pancakes!" Nora beamed

"Don't touch me there!" Ruby yelped

"Sorry. Sorry!"

The driver was chuckling as this whole even unfolded, "You do know there is a front seat, sir?"

Jaune rubbed his neck in embarrassment, "Oh. Right." Causing giggling to erupt inside the vehicle

The ride was spent in comfortable silence, side conversations with Jaune and the driver, "Oh so you kids are from Beacon?"

Ruby felt a pang of sadness, "Yes, well used to…"

"I know, it was all over the news what happened there. Tragic stuff." The driver quietly spoke

"We are currently on patrol of the kingdom borders," Ren joined in, "Grimm activity is worsening all around Remnant."

"So why exactly are you heading toward Schnee Manor?" asked the driver.

"To get Ruby's BESTIE!" Nora practically shrieked

Ruby's face turned red, "Uhh yes. W-we're going to get Weiss Schnee, she's a Huntress. Well in training."

"Since Beacon's gone, you kids are pretty much all qualified Huntsman's and Huntresses. Do the world a favor and save it, alright?" the driver requested.

Ruby's cheery spirit quickly came back to her. "Yes sir!"

"Can we have your name sir?" Jaune asked.

"Names not important, someone's probably waiting for you over there." The driver pointed his head out the door. "Good luck."

* * *

The Schnee Manor was certainly a sight to take in, the well-tended white lilies surrounding the walkway to the house coupled with the gigantic fountain in the middle of the porch, guests were appearing every so often with their sublime dresses or men with tuxedos. Ruby felt a little embarrassed with the red and white blouse she was wearing right now along with her signature red cloak. She quickly shook her head, she was not here for this.

"You guys wait here, I'll find somewhere we can look." Her teammates nodding in understanding.

She scouted the area, there seems to be no signs of guards or gardeners, using her semblance she darted toward the side of the house, the lilac bushes concealing her. Declaring it safe, she gestured for her teammates to follow her.

While waiting for her teammates, Ruby surveyed the area, the sides of the house appeared to be right next to forest clearings, a grassy path presented in front of her, 'Ha! An escape route, I'm way too talented with these plan ideas!' Ruby thought to herself, a triumphant smile on her face. As she was forming an escape plan in her head, an angelic sound reached her eardrums, distracting her thoughts completely.

"Is that…singing?" Ruby whispered to herself, trying to find the source of the voice.

She removed Crescent Rose from their holder and used the blade to hook on the balcony where she pin pointed the sound. Hoisting herself up. She smiled a little when she noticed the door was open. Ruby could now clearly hear the lyrics of the song she was hearing, recognizing the melody.

Peeking from the corner Ruby's mouse dropped when she saw Weiss. Weiss was wearing a white dance dress. Her usual ponytail brought down revealing silky white hair. And the expression on her face was one of pure beauty, concentration poured out onto the song.

 _Mirror, mirror, what's behind you? Save me from the things i see._

 _I can keep it from the world, why won't you let me hide from me?_

 _Mirror, mirror, tell me something- who's the loneliest of all?_

 _I'm the loneliest of all_

Weiss inhaled deeply, relaxing her vocal chords, she always found comfort in music, and being talented in multiple instruments and a naturally beautiful voice, she was prepared to leave the room. Well until she heard a fluttering noise behind her. Instantly recognizing it as a threat, she reached for Myrtenaster, propped up next to her dresser.

She swiftly spun around and aimed straight for her assailant. Cold metal met pale skin and Weiss grinned triumphantly at the failed assassination or kidnapping, that is until she looked at her face.

"Uh..hi Weiss!" Ruby waved slightly at her, her head tilted to the side to prevent the icy blade from puncturing her throat. Blue eyes met silver eyes and a groan was heard, Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"

"I can tell you. Just. Please don't kill me." Ruby whimpered. Weiss noticing the blade was still pressed onto her neck, she quickly retrieved it.

So tell me. Ruby Rose what gives you the right to invade into my home?" Weiss glared at her, causing Ruby to shuffle her feet on the ground nervously, "Weeelll…We might have come to save you?"

"We?"

"Umm..I have a backup team I guess, with Jaune, Nora and Ren."

Weiss softened her gaze, "I see…so Phyrrha is…?"

Ruby nodded sadly, feeling her eyes turning misty, "And all I could do was watch." She sniffled. "It's just been a big mess ever since."

"Ruby, I'm sorry." Weiss quickly muttered

"What?"

"I'm sorry. For abandoning Phyrrha, for abandoning Beacon, from abandoning Team RWBY."

"Weiss it's not your fau-"Ruby argued

"It is my fault! If I just refused to go with Father, I could've saved Phyrrha with you, we could've saved Beacon. None of this would've happen if I just stayed! But I was there standing like an idiot. A hopeless idiot." Ruby could see tears start to stream down Weiss's face. "Now Blake's gone, so is Yang, and this world is starting to crumble, because of some foolish girl."

"And you want someone like that to go with you?" Weiss finished, an upset expression on her face.

"Weiss…"

"Go."

"What?"

"I said go. I don't want you seeing me again."

Ruby began tearing up, "Weiss, please!" Weiss was already on her way out the door, without thinking Ruby sprinted after her nearly crashing onto her partner. "Don't leave…please." Ruby begged as she grasped onto Weiss's waist with dear life

"You know I can't. Think about the company, who is supposed to run it?"

"Weiss." Ruby muttered.

Weiss let out a broken sigh, "What?"

"Please let me be selfish. And have you as my partner again." Ruby choked in nearly all her words but the message still came through, Weiss was wide-eyed. "I don't want to be alone anymore…" Ruby sobbed as she buried her face in Weiss neck.

The two stood in uncomfortable silence, neither of the two daring to speak up. That is until Weiss chuckled half-heartedly. "You're still a dolt."

Ruby somewhat regained her cheery expression and gave a bright smile, "But I'm your dolt!"

Ruby felt Weiss relax in her arms, noticing a small smile in Weiss' face, a million thoughts running in her mind. 'Does that mean she'll come? Does she mean she likes me? Did I just confess?! Oh my god oh my god, maybe I need to do a real confession?' Ruby thought and nodded, "Weiss." She spoke softly

"Hm?" Weiss responded

"I l-lo-"was Ruby had to say before the door burst open

"Weiss, the guests are all waiting for you!" the man growled. He was a tall skinny, his hair a light shade of hair, almost to the point of being white and a large mustache. His eyes immediately darted onto Ruby who still had Weiss wrapped around her arms. "Who is that girl?!" he shouted, his voice rather deep.

"She is my partner, Father. She is Ruby Rose. I am leaving." Weiss turned towards the window, causing Ruby to sheepishly follow after letting go of her waist.

"What?" His facial expression hardened.

"You heard me. I am leaving Schnee Manor in order to accompany my team from Beacon." She didn't bother to look back.

"And what do you think will you accomplish other than getting yourself killed?!" he retorted

"So I can finally go where I belong." Weiss suddenly spoke. She slowly turned back, "Ever since Mother passed away, this place has stopped being my home. I was lonely Father, I was the loneliest girl in the world." His father remained silent. Ruby gently took Weiss' hand in her own.

"You became cold, locking yourself in your office every day, and Winter would never be home. After I went to Beacon…" Weiss took a moment to wipe tears off her eyes, "I had people I was glad to call friends."

"That's when I realized, my home is not here, it's too dark and unforgiving. Mother's warmth has left this place long ago," Ruby's grip tightened, "And yet you expect me to live here the rest of my life," Weiss looked her father straight in the eyes, "With someone I don't love?"

Ruby's eyes widened, "You're…going to get married?"

"It's to strengthen the band between the Atlas family companies." Weiss' Father spoke up

"It's an arranged marriage." Ruby growled. Her grip on Weiss was nearly on the point of pain. "You expect your daughter to live like this for the rest of her life?"

"If it's for the best of the compa-"

Ruby was piratically screaming now"To hell with the company, to hell with Dust profits! You're setting up your youngest daughter for a life of hell! If you weren't her Father I would've had you by the neck, cho-"Ruby was interrupted by a firm hand on her shoulder, noticing she had token a few steps advancing to the parent.

"Ruby. We're leaving." Weiss said sternly.

Ruby took a moment to exhale and quickly followed Weiss. As they were about to descend from the balcony she looked back one last time at Weiss' father and gave him a death glare.

Weiss father stared at the now empty balcony, the moon in full view, he looked at the mirror to straighten his tie and walked out.

"Hmph."

* * *

A/N

Ruby: Hey guys! Alpha sent me to give you some updates!

Weiss: Also me

Ruby: Pshhh…Whatever, I'm the main star of this story anyway.

Weiss: Some clumsy dumb girl as a protagonist?

Ruby: I'm not clums—Ah! *proceeds to trip on flat ground*

Weiss: Dolt…Anyway Alpha says he will be busy with school for a while so he won't be able to update frequently

Ruby: *whimpers on the ground* *sniff* Yea..Also if you would like to review, we'll respond to them personally on Author's Note!

Weiss: Thanks for reading

Ruby: Bye!


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note:

Ruby: RWBY is completely owned by Rooster Teeth, this story has no affiliations with the actual story plot

Weiss: Big words, dunce

Ruby: S-shut up! *blushes

Yea…anyways, 3 AP (Advance Placement Classes) and an honors pre-calculus class is harder than I thought, hurray for junior year high school!

Ruby: Dude. You just started this week.

It's hard okay?!

Weiss: mmhm, totally *walks away*

Ruby: Wait for me!

*Sigh yes anyway I'm a lazy person so don't be surprised when I don't update often, enjoy

* * *

The now five-man member of Team RWNJR (idk) walked quietly through the snowy woods, an uncomfortable silence in the air, especially strange considering Nora was part of the pack. Ever since the encounter with Weiss's father, Weiss has been far too quiet, especially when Ruby clumsily trips or gets her hood stuck on a tree branch, Weiss would simply shrug it off and offer a hand, her voice lacking of any annoyed expression of even a scoff when she got up, it started to worry Ruby a little bit.

Jaune broke the silence "Where exactly are we going?"

Ruby gave him a small smile, "Oh, we're gonna go back to the Patch, and pick up Yang, maybe rest up there little, then head our way."

"We know the plan, Ruby," Ren remarked, "but I mean do we know where this path leads to?"

Ruby took his word like a ton of bricks, "Oh, of course! Umm..this path's gotta lead to another city right?"

Ruby froze when she felt cold eyes pierce her back, no amount of aura able to protect her from Weiss's icy blue eyes, "You don't know where we're going?!"

Ruby twiddled her thumbs together and gave Weiss a goofy grin, "Well last night got me a bit, flustered, I just kinda went on it with it you know?"

"That's not the point you dolt!" Weiss's stare somehow became stronger, "We've been walking since we woke up, and we only gone farther from the main city of Atlas!"

Ruby felt a annoyed,"Well, you're from here! Why didn't you say anything!?" Ruby retorted angrily

"Because I'm not who basically kidnapped me from my own home! "The two were basically holding a screaming contest now, the rest of their team, standing by awkwardly, weapons ready to break them up when it gets messy.

"You didn't get kidnapped!" Ruby said through gritted teeth

"You were practically pulling at my dress, which I am for some reason still wearing and begging, 'Weiss, Weiss don't leave me please!'" Weiss mocked Ruby's voice, even wiping an imaginary tear from her cheek.

"Because I wanted to get both teams back together!" Ruby yelled back, tears starting to form.

"Wake up Ruby! One's at your house, wallowing probably, one's nowhere to be seen, probably plotting against us at this very moment with the White Fang, and one's DEAD!" Weiss screamed at the top of her lungs. Jaune taking most of the harsh words, he bowed his head down in sadness.

Ruby took a step back and looked at the ground, shock how Weiss could say words like that, Ruby felt her rage morph into a hint of sadness, "there's always a chance they'll come back." She said with a small voice, shuddering a little bit when she recalled the events right before it turned all white.

Weiss was shocked at Ruby's words, why she managed to say these things that will obviously never come true, 'WHO ARE YOU?!'

Ruby looked up to see Weiss shivering, "W-Weiss?" she reached out only to get it smacked away, making her recoil her hand back.

"Why are you so hopeful?" Weiss said suddenly not bothering to look up, still shivering.

"What?" Ruby took a step forward, cautious as she approached her partner

"Why do you make promises you can't make?" she muttered. Her fingers clenching together

Ruby stood in silence

"TELL ME WHY!" Weiss screamed, her face bolting upright revealing tears streaming from her face. Ruby took multiple steps back quickly, deathly scared of Weiss's blue eyes now glowing vividly.

* * *

 _"Our family loves you very much, Princess." An image of a man holding a happy smile, reached out for her._

* * *

"STOP IT!" Weiss screamed at particularly no one her aura flaring up and causing the wind to pick up around the area and dropping the already freezing temperatures lower.

"Weiss!" Ruby called out but she already knew she was far too gone. Ruby, desperate to snap her best friend back to reality she fought against the quickening winds, drawing Crescent Rose out and using it as an ice pick.

* * *

 _"Don't be so naive dear sister, I'll always have your back" another voice echoed inside her mind_

* * *

"SHUT UP!" Weiss continued to yell, she was losing herself fast, this newfound power was quickly overtaking her mental fortitude.

She was slowly coming to terms with herself, the snowstorm was even starting to slow down, allowing Ruby to take bigger strides towards the broken soul. Out of the blue, One memory triggered inside of Weiss's head

* * *

 _"Don't worry sweetie, I'll always be by your side!" a motherly smile emerged from Weiss's head, a hand reaching out for her._

* * *

"You liar." she muttered

"YOU LIAR!"

Ruby almost got knocked all the way back from where she was if it wasn't for Crescent Rose firmly planted on the ground. She looked back to see the rest of her teammates grabbing to any boulders or trees hoping to stay on the ground. She saw her partner a few feet away on her knees grabbing at her hair and shaking her head rapidly, eyes shut tight and tears streaming down her face.

"LIARS!ALL OF YOU!" She screamed,"YOU LEFT ME ALONE!I'M ALL ALONE!" she let out heart-retching sobs as she fell to her knees

Ruby just at the sight of her loved one's broken state fell into tears. Absent-mindly she let go of Crescent Rose and rushed in with new found speed.

'So cold. Why is it so cold? W-Why would you all leave me?! I JUST WANT TO BE LOVED!'

Weiss flinched when she felt another body collide with, hers entrapping her in their arms. The snowstorm dying down quickly, making voices sound audible again.

'Huh?' her mind could only take so much more, 'Who is this?And why is it warm?'

Her vision cleared up quite a bit revealing black hair with rose red ends. 'Ruby?' The area seemingly appeared far too bright as it should. Was she dying?

"You're not alone." she whispered the voice barely reaching Weiss's ears.

No. I'm alive you don't feel warmth when you warmth. I want it...I need it. But if I cling on too long...'

The feeling of abandonment. The dead silence of the house, the sound of pen scratching the surface of paper her only companionship. Waiting every day for hours by his door, asking if he wants to play with you. There was only eerie silence.

"Liar, I'll always be lonely," Weiss muttered, she barely had any control of her body let alone what she was saying.

Ruby tightened her hug, Yang would be jealous of how crushing it was. She will never leave this girl again, never experience the pain of being abandoned ever again.

"No" she choked out, her voice very shaky, she dug her face into Weiss's shoulders, already turning wet, "I won't let you. Never again."

Weiss chuckled, a broken, humorless, chuckle while staring into nothingness. "You'll leave, eventually you all will."

Ruby shook her head, determined to prove her wrong, "I swear on my life, Weiss, I will never, ever leave your side." Ruby could barely speak, but was determined to give Weiss a promise she can cling onto.

Weiss let Ruby's words sink in for a moment. Out of everyone she has met in her entire life, Ruby was the one to never stop clinging on, she saw past her cold, dark heart seeing a simple girl. A broken girl that required love and warmth just like any other living person, love that has has been taken away from her far too fast. She felt warm, she felt safe. She slowly brought her hands up to Ruby's back taking in as much warmth as her tired body will let her. The snow-storm has all but stopped, revealing the rest of their team beginning to let go of any anchors they were holding onto.

"Y-you promise?" Weiss asked in a child-like voice. Ruby almost burst into tears again at those words, those sweet innocent words that, in the past were simply replied with false claims. Her childhood that was taken far too fast from her, so many promises given and broken just as fast.

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Ruby signed an X at her heart sealing the promise

Weiss allowed her eyes and body to relax into the embrace.

'Why is she so warm? This reminds me of…' she quickly stopped herself before she breaks down again.

"Why? "Weiss mutters.

"Huh?" Ruby responded.

"Why are you so determined to stay by my side?" Weiss let one last tear slide off her cheek before letting her eyes rest. Ruby and Weiss remained silent for what felt like an hour.

Ruby hesitated for a while until words just flew out of her mouth

"Because I fell in love with you." Ruby whispered. She braced herself for a response but received only soft breathing. She extended her arms back, and saw a sleeping Weiss, some tears still left down here cheek. Ruby couldn't help but smile and the sleeping girl, taking in the pure beauty before her. Her lovely snow-white hair flowing freely by her side as well as the fullness of her lips. Her face was noticeably lacking of any conflict instead seemingly at peace her expression seemed very neutral. Just the thought of why anyone dared to abandon such a beautiful girl such as her made Ruby's blood boil.

'How can anyone be so beautiful?' Ruby wanted to ask Weiss, but was answered by soft snoring. Ruby giggled and went to pick her up, but was rewarded with surprising weight.

"Oof!" she grunted when she almost dropped Weiss while picking her up bridal style, 'How am I supposed to pick her up when we get-' Ruby blushed furiously and shook her head, 'dumb Ruby! You can't even confess when she's awake and you expect her to marry you?!' she scolded herself.

"Hey guys?" she called out. Her teammates quickly approaching the struggling scythe wielder , "little help?"

* * *

"When do you think we can go in?" a man asked, adjusting his bionic leg.

"We've been tracking this dumb girl and her team for months." Another voice spoke up.

Glowing amber eyes stared into the scene, scoffing at the sight of Ruby's team still struggling to pick up the petite girl. She smirked, " Patience, both of you. However there is a slight 'change' of plans." She pointed directly at Weiss.

"The Schnee girl, I want her as well." She walked back and worth for a while, "Contact Adam and request as much White Fang there is available." The thought of all that raw power just on her fingertips made her smirk grow wider.

"The ambush will take place tomorrow."

* * *

A/N:Hoi! Thanks for reading this chapter and again sorry I won't be able to update frequently. Love you all.

Ruby: Weiss you want a cookie?

Weiss: No, I don't want any coo-

Can I have a cookie?

Ruby: No!

Why not?

Ruby: Grr. THESE COOKIES ARE FOR ME AND WEISS'S MOUTHS ONLY

Weiss: Okaaay, before this gets any weirder, please provide any reviews, bye!


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note:

Ruby: RWBY is completely owned by Rooster Teeth, this story has no affiliations with the actual story plot!

Weiss: Please enjoy.

Ruby: Wow. Boring.

Weiss: What?

Ruby: Can't you do something more entertaining? Like strike a pose or something?

Weiss: *proceeds to balance on one heel while folding her arms behind her back. *Winks, and beams.*

Ruby: *speechless* W-wow.

Weiss: Hello? Remnant to Ruby? *waves hands across face.*

Ruby:* falls straight on her back.*

Weiss: Oh my god, Ruby!

Those useless lesbians…*sigh enjoy the story

* * *

Chapter 5

Ruby slowly opened her eyes, finding the task alone difficulty. She could feel sharp grass on her back, immediately realizing that an area of her back was uncovered, leaving the grass to assault her skin mercilessly. The sky was nothing but dark clouds, her hearing was disoriented and could barely make out other sounds than a high-pitched ringing sound. She attempted to get up, but her body refused, as if her libs weren't connected to her body at all, she tried to speak but the only sound that came out was a small groan.

Suddenly a pair of arms circled around her body and swung them over their soldiers. Ruby shifted her gaze towards flowing blonde hair. _"Yang?"_

"Weiss, don't just stand there!" her sister suddenly called out. 'Wait, Weiss?' Yung turned around, giving Ruby a peek on the situation. Weiss was standing on the top of a meadow, her weapon drawn. Ruby immediately realized what she was staring at. A black mist composed of howls and screeching of Grimm, and she could barely make out glowing eyes shining from the mist.

"Y-you go on ahead." Weiss choked out, Ruby could make out the pain in her voice, "Get Ruby to safety."

" _What?"_

"You can't be serious!" Yang exclaimed, jolting forward with Ruby still on her piggy-back style. Ruby wanted so desperately to call out to Weiss, to call her an idiot and force her to join them.

"Yang," Weiss began, "There's no use running, she'll eventually catch us."

"So the alternative is dying?!" Yang retorted, her eyes starting to turn red.

Weiss turned around to face the blonde haired girl, "Yang, it's the only choice we have."

"Are you fu-"

"Weiss." Ruby manages to choke out, her words coming out barely louder than a whisper but loud enough to cut off her sister.

Weiss's gaze turns toward the girl on the brute's shoulder, who's having keeping her eyes open, "Oh, Ruby. I didn't think you'd wake up so quickly." She let out a humorless chuckle.

Ruby reached out her hands towards Weiss, "Don't…leave." She panted. Weiss could only respond with a sad smile,

"I'm sorry."

"Wait." Another voice called from the back, she strutted forward until she came into Ruby's view, the cat ears being an immediate giveaway on who she was. "Then I'll fight her, you go on with Ru-."

"No" Weiss immediately cut Blake off, "I can hold out against her the longest, you go with Yang and Ruby."

Ruby felt tears well up, and her arm involuntarily reached out for the ivory-haired girl, "Weiss." She groaned. Weiss gave a slight grin and walked toward the red-hooded girl and grasped her hand softly, she got on her tippy-toes to reach the girl's forehead. Before giving a quick kiss, she moved her head to Ruby's ear, and whispered two words, "Thank you."

It was too much, Ruby let the tears flow, the pools of water freely dropping onto Yang's shoulder. Weiss gave her one last smile, a smile that would Ruby desperately wants to keep for herself, a smile that made each day worth living. A smile that would be forever gone, and forever taken from Ruby's life.

"Take care of her Yang, please." Weiss asked, softly to the now teary-eyed blonde, to nodded back. "I'll miss you all so much. Thank you. For being my family." She barely finished, as she was now crying freely. With one last tear-filled smile she sprinted towards the Black Mist. And Ruby could only call out her name while the one she loved was running from her sight.

"Weiss."

"Weiss…"

* * *

"WEISS!" Ruby woke up, her limbs fully in her control. She bolted from where she was laying, immediately ran around panicking. Little to her concern the rest of her team aside from Weiss who was not in the scene.

Tears were dripping down Ruby's cheeks at a quick rate as she desperately scouted for the heiress. The rest of Team NJR only watched as Ruby bolted around the camp, checking behind trees and shrubs. Jaune was the first to step in, attempting to calm Ruby down.

"Ru-"

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Ruby shouted at Jaune who immediately tackled him on the ground, her Silver eyes seemingly glowing.

"She-She went for a walk. I t-think she went that way." Jaune stuttered. Both at the cold itself and the colder glare Ruby was giving him. Ruby went off in a blur, leaving a trail of rose petals for Jaune to stare at as they slowly dropped to the ground.

Ruby was turning hysterical, shifting her head back and forth though every path she could see. The cold was unbearable. Her hood barely providing any warmth combined with the thin sweater she was wearing. It hardly compared to the ice cold feeling shivering down her spine at this very moment, adrenaline fueling her veins she ran faster and faster. She would've still been running until a very distinct sight stopped her completely.

Weiss was standing at the edge of the cliff, looking towards the sky, her blue eyes perfectly reflecting the stars shimmering by the hundreds, she was still wearing her white dress that Ruby first saw her in. The sight was one like the fairy tales Yang would always read Ruby when she was younger, the real thing could not even compare to such mere words. Ruby was essentially frozen in sight by this pure beautiful heiress, she imagined standing in the exact same spot and stare at Weiss for all eternity, the vision was broken when Weiss turned her way.

"Ruby?"

Ruby was snapped out of her hypnosis and sprinted towards Weiss, who went wide-eyed when they both got tackled to the ground, "Oof!" Ruby didn't care she buried her face in Weiss's chest, taking in the smell of lavender, she gripped straight onto the heiress's collar, as if Weiss was to disappear in this very minute.

Weiss's back immediately felt the freezing snow, and immediately struggled to get back up, "Ruby! Get off m-"she started until she noticed that Ruby was still buried in her dress. She began to feel concerned, "Ruby?" called out in a softer voice.

"An Angel." Ruby's voice was muffled by Weiss's clothing

"What?" Weiss asked, confused.

"You're my angel." Ruby finally looked up, looking Weiss dead in the eyes, silver orbs looking at icy blues.

Weiss was still completely in the dark" I don-"

"And a guardian angel-

* * *

never leaves there person's side." The girl looked at her mother with a serious face, the woman in front of her seemingly shocked, until it shifted into a warm smile.

"Alright my little Rose." The woman responded, chuckling at the little girl's enthusiasm.

"Yay! I love you momma!" Ruby hugged Summer's cloak tightly, always appreciating her mother's warmth, Summer reached down to pick up the little girl, "I love you, Ruby" and brought the girl to her shoulder, wrapping them both in her warmth.

"So I'm never allowed to leave your side?" Summer asked jokingly, pretending to act sad.

"Nope!" Ruby grinned happily, nuzzling deeper into her mother's shoulders.

Summer chuckled again, "All right, dear. We should head back home, dinner's soon."

"Aww, but I wanna play some more!" Ruby pouted, her puppy-dog eyes seemingly impossible to resist.

Summer slowly put her daughter down and lightly touched her nose. "Tag!" She giggled as she ran away

"Waah?!" Ruby responded dumbfounded at her mother quickly growing distance between her, "Momma! That's no fair!" Ruby yelled, as she began to chase her mother. At first she was laughing and giggling as she gave chase but after a while Ruby wasn't able to keep up with and was soon panting for breath, "Mom! Wait!" Ruby called for again, until she looked at herself, back in her old Beacon clothes. The area became very foggy and the white-cloak her mom where did little to make her visible.

"Mom!" Ruby begged as she continued to run after her, "Please don't go!" she couldn't keep up, she simply wasn't fast enough. No power of her semblance was nearly enough, the white cloak was barely visible now, but then she suddenly stopped. The fog was clearing, revealing snowflake emblem on a white dress. "Weiss?" Ruby called out hesitantly. The girl simply kept walking

"Weiss!" Ruby called out louder and gave chase, the heiress blending in too well with the fog, seemingly like a ghost, "Don't just run away Weiss!"

Ruby ran and ran for what felt like hours until she dropped to her knees in exhaustion, the girl still kept walking, "Don't leave me!" Ruby finally started sobbing reaching aimlessly for her partner, desperate to cling on. The girl simply looked behind her, "There's plenty of people to replace me." She spoke coldy

"No!" Ruby yelled in response and looked at her partners' mesmerizing blue eyes, "No, I want only you, there's only you." Ruby choked out. Weiss looked her with a blank stare, until she spoke up, "I'm sorry." And gave a soft smile. Ruby became shocked and confused,

"W-what?"

"You'll find a new partner." Weiss replied simply, smile still on her face, Ruby took every ounce of her strength to not break.

"NO!" Ruby screamed, "I don't want a new partner, I don't want a new team! I don't want to be alone, I JUST WANT YOU WEISS!" Ruby was crying uncontrollably tears fully streaming down her face until she poured every ounce of emotion out.

"I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL! I'LL DO ANYTHING WEISS, JUST PLEASE DON'T LEAVE!" Ruby sobbed while screaming. Ruby was still on her knees, crying her eyes out, until another sound was heard, the sound of grief. Ruby slowly looked up to see tears flowing down her love's face.

"You dolt." Weiss cried out, but still had a sad smile on her face," Though I'm glad!" Weiss's tear streaked face looked straight a Ruby's "I'm so glad. Thank you Ruby." Weiss, "Thank you for loving me, thank you, thank you." Weiss repeated several more times, Ruby was frozen her mouth slightly open in shock as Weiss's skin was during seamlessly into petals, white petals being blown away with the breeze.

Weiss's body was on the brink of disappearing but still held that loving smile, "Please don't forget about me. I will always be your angel." Her voice echoed through the flowers, leaving a dazed Ruby to watch her love pulled away with a gentle breeze.

Ruby's strength left her body as she went limp, landing on her back, her legs bent slightly, she gazed towards the sky revealing her petals, red rose petals floating down towards her body, Ruby paid no attention to them or anything for that matter. The petals piled onto her, leaving her essentially airless , no oxygen entering her lungs. Ruby paid no mind, there was no reason to struggle on any further. The sweet smell of roses lulled her into an eternal sleep, her one true love waiting for her with open arms.

* * *

A/N

Ruby: What the actual Fu-, I mean Dust was that?!

I'm sorry Ruby school literally drains me of any energy

Ruby: That's no excuse! You ended in a dream sequence Alpha, a damn DREAM SEQUENCE. This Chapter took you almost 2 weeks!

I never said I was a good writer

Weiss: Well you didn't say you were necessarily a bad one! Just apply yourself more. Ok,Alpha?

*sigh fine, look guys I'm really sorry about my lack of a constant schedule, it's just school and insomnia don't go well together. I'm rather disappointed in this Chapter since it's really more of a Filler Chapter, and I sincerely apologize. I let down over 30 people following this story,(Which is fucking insane! The number not the disappointment Thx 3)

Tl;DR: sorry for this shit chapter.

* * *

Ruby: Weeeeisss

Weiss: What?

Ruby: My cookies, they're all gone!

Weiss: If anything this is good for you. Help you trim down fat.

Ruby: What?!My fat goes to these puppies *squeezes breasts*

Weiss:*rolls eyes* They really haven't gotten much bigger, if anything it's your outfit putting more attention into it

Ruby: AS IF YOURS ARE ANY DIFFERENT!

Weiss: *Grabs Ruby's hands and presses them onto her breasts* *exaggerates moan* Are you saying you don't like them

Ruby: *blushes redder than her cape, nosebleeds.*

Weiss:Ugghh Ruby?

Ruby:*falls down.

Weiss: Oh my god, Ruby!

Useless lesbians…thx for reading please review


	6. Chapter 6

Ruby: RWBY is completely owned by Rooster Teeth, this story has no affiliation with the actual story plot.*Waits* Umm Weiss?

Weiss: Alpha has a personal message to the readers today…

Umm…hi. So about my last chapter. I have no excuse, and I'm sorry. I completely butchered that one hard and it's unforgivable. I appreciate the criticism and everyone sticking around.

Ruby lazily opened her eyes, immediately squinting when the blinding sun shot through the canopy. The sound of soft snoring caught her attention swiftly turning her sights towards a sleeping figure, her flowing white hair tickling Ruby's nose.

"Weiss?" Ruby called out softly. The sleeping figure abruptly awoke, her eyes rapidly fluttering open and closed. The said girl finally locked her eyes onto Ruby, who was resting comfortably on her lap, she couldn't help but grin at her partner.

"Morning, dunce." Weiss spoke, cautiously reaching out for Ruby's locks, the sudden contact made Ruby tense but soon relaxed onto the heiress's touch. The ice girl's cool hands playfully twirling and combing her hair, Ruby managed to snuggle further into the snow queen's dress. Weiss swore she felt her heart physically melt at the intimate contact. _How have I not noticed how cute she is? Wait, what did I just say?!_

Ruby giggled as she saw her partner turn red, and sat up a pale hand supporting her up,"Morrniing~." Ruby yawned in a sing-song voice. She took a moment to check her surroundings, and was relieved to recognize the same white-filled forest the team was traveling through yesterday.

Ruby went to rub the sleep out of her eyes, her vision strangely foggy," Where's everyone else?"

Her question was immediately answered when several voices called from the forest, Weiss spotting a tall figure with blonde hair in the distance. "Ruby? Weiss?"

"Yo!" Ruby called out waving at the small group, "vomit boy!" the two partners giggled when they heard Jaune growl loudly.

"Dang it! I thought that'd be over by now!" Jaune ran towards the two girls who were still waiting patiently on the ground, Jaune sighs, "Well, if it brings the gang together, I don't mind." The two smiling huntresses stood up to continue the trek.

"Sorry for making you worried guys." Ruby interrupted the awkward silence and looked down in shame. The entire plan of "rescuing Weiss" was barely a completion. Yes Ruby was able to gather a good progress throughout the trip but it resulted in Weiss experiencing a mental breakdown and a gallon of tears to fall. The group looked at her with confused expressions until Weiss's frown twisted into a smirk, she slowly made her way towards the red-hooded huntress. The silent was broken when a loud flick echoed throughout the forest "Ow!"

Ruby whimpered as she rubbed her stinging forehead, but was forced to look up when a pale finger pointed towards her. "Huh?"

"Dolt. You do know it's our job to worry about our teammates, you're no different." Weiss said with a high-standing voice."

Ruby felt herself shrinking under Weiss's commanding tone, "But-"

"Nope" Weiss immediately recoiled, shutting up Ruby's mouth with her finger. "You are my partner Ruby Rose, and partners do not leave each other behind."

Ruby began to tear up, "Weiss!' she cried out, wrapping her arms around Weiss's neck, squishing her face onto her white-haired partner who instantly tried to shove speedy huntress off of her, but Ruby refused to let up.

"Aww so you do care about me!" Ruby giggled

Weiss felt her face heat up, "No I don't, get off me." She murmured but offered less resistance

"You're just so cute when you blush!" Ruby squealed. She rubbed her cheek faster.

The sound of coughing interrupted the moment and the two spotted the rest of their teammates standing awkwardly aside from Nora who gave the thumbs up. Ruby and Weiss looked at each, other suddenly aware what they were just doing, pulling themselves away from each other, blushes redder than Ruby's cape.

"S-so l-let's move on team!" Ruby stammered.

* * *

The whole RNJWR gang was walking quietly through the snow filled woods, the thick forest tops giving adequate protection from the bright sun. The soft sound of snowy footsteps being the only source of sound, aside from Nora casually twirling her hammer around.

"Careful Nora," Ren stepped out of the way from the large hammer

"Whoopsie!" Nora giggled, "It's just boring to walk around all day. I want to fight me some Grimm!"

"Oh yeah." Jaune spoke up, gathering the group's attention, "Where are all the Grimm anyway?"

Ruby went into thought. Grimm can be found in the wilderness, surviving in almost any climates. They are attracted to any type of human behavior, usually drawing several of them to small towns and Kingdom borders. Ruby looked around her, the empty forest before them should be teeming with the forsaken creatures. Ruby started to get worried, "Could they be purposefully avoiding us?"

The group went into a state of thought until Weiss broke it, "No. No type of Grimm we've faced yet has ever stopped themselves from attacking anybody." She readied Myrtenaster, giving the dust chamber a quick spin. "Though, I think we're being followed." She finished as she checked both sights of her vision, her eyes looking suspiciously at the unnatural sway of the trees.

Ruby nodded, "Right. Everyone keep an eye open for anything weird." The rest of the group nodded as they all drew their weapons. Nora attempted to literally pull an eye out when Ren's hand stopped her, and giving her shake of his head.

The group gathered together, each member accompanying each sides of their small pentagon, watching out for any incoming threats. They all continued to move forward towards the path.

"Schnee Manor is located far north of Atlas." Weiss spoke quietly, "if we keep up the pace we should arrive at the main city." They all nodded in understanding. The group cautiously moved forward the forest, averting their gazes on any shrubs or behind trees. Ruby wanted to break up from the group to check the perimeter but she understood it would only make the rest of her team vulnerable to ambushes as well as making her extremely easy prey.

Ruby's team strutted cautiously, taking into account any suspicious looking activity, Ruby formed a soft smile when she saw the end of the forest trail.

"Hey guys there's the-!" but was immediately interrupted when a circular object crossed her vision. _A bomb?!_ Ruby immediately took action, "OUT OF THE WAY, NOW!" she yelled. She instinctively grabbed her partner's hand, who still had Myrtenaster gripped tightly on her wrists. She burst away with her semblance, still holding on to Weiss's hand while her other teammates quickly jumped out of the way. She tackled her partner to the ground, and brought her cape up protectively, expecting the worse. She was surprised though when she heard a spraying sound from behind her back. _Gas?!_

She turned her head around to find the small sheet of smoke denying complete vision, the sound of coughing immediately caught her attention, "Weiss!" she spoke in a worried tone, only to receive a glare from her partner.

"It's worse on the ground, dunce!" Weiss snapped, "Help me up!" she demanded, Ruby's weight keeping her from lifting herself up.

"Sorry!" Ruby apologized quickly, standing up. She reached her hand out for the heiress who gladly accepted, and quickly dusted herself off. Weiss peered through the smokescreen, hearing the sounds of her teammates, calling out for them.

"Guys!" Ruby yelled, pointing to the end of the forest path, "Run to the exit!" she then proceeded to grab Weiss's hand again to escape. They would've if several figures weren't in their way. The animalistic ears giving away their group. Ruby let out a grunt, "White Fang? Here?" Ruby was more confused than anything why the White Fang were targeting them as well as how they were able to pinpoint their location.

Ruby prepared her plan of attack, shifting Crescent Rose behind her back. _Ugh, I hate fog of war,_ she thought. Her vision was almost fully blacked out my the thick smoke

Barely fast enough to react Ruby brought her scythe up defensively as a White Fang member swung his sword in hope of slicing the silver-eyed huntress. Ruby grunted and roughly kicked the man straight on his stomach, the blow managing to get him on the ground. Ruby quickly glanced around awaiting more challengers, she could see the faint outlines of her comrades fighting it out with the small platoon, the sounds of metal clashing ringing in her ears. Adrenaline pumping through her veins Ruby prepared to charge towards the soldiers.

At least until she saw Weiss.

Weiss was in the middle of the smokescreen seemingly motionless, next to a body, Myrtenaster dangling on her left hand, she was clutching on to something, "Weiss!" Ruby quickly ran toward her partner.

"Weiss are you okay?" Ruby called out, worried.

She received no response, the white-haired girl still in a trance, Ruby peeked over Weiss shoulder to find she was holding a piece of fabric, the color perfectly matching the torn clothing off the now subdued White Fang solider in front of her. Weiss's attention was completely directed towards the piece of clothing. Suddenly she smiled

"W-Weiss?" Ruby shuffled closer to her partner, now about arm reach, she was answered by silence. As if it wasn't enough the absolute morbid look in Weiss's eyes made Ruby frozen in place, the lovely light blue iris nonexistent. She could barely hear a light snicker before her eyes started to glow. Glyphs were starting to appear around them, the familiar Schnee logo not appearing before them, instead it was replaced with a cruel pointed snowflake edges thin and sharp. A chilling blue aura surrounding it, Ruby went wide eyed when the glyphs revealed the rest of the White Fang members, all staring down at their feet, confused.

Not a second later all the White Fang troops collapsed right beneath the teams feet, completely knocked out.

Ruby's mouth was left hanging open in shock and confusion was the small army was knocked out in a flash of light. She slowly put down Crescent Rose, and proceeded to lightly kick a soldier by the stomach, receiving no response. She turned back towards her partner who was still wearing the intimidating smile, her sharp blue eyes burying themselves into Ruby's head.

"So you're her partner?" "Weiss" asked, one eyebrow raised, her sly voice caused Ruby to shiver.

"W-what do you mean "her" partner?" Ruby stared down the figure who was clearly not Weiss. The other girl simply smirked before her smile suddenly faded, and her eyes dimmed.

Ruby's confusion only grew until the sight of the girl falling to her side caught her attention, "Weiss!"

Silently thanking the glyphs for clearing the smoke, Ruby dashed over in a trail of rose petals to quickly catch her collapsing partner, who quickly flopped over to Ruby's waiting hands, "Woah there." Ruby huffed.

Weiss was breathing heavily, her muscles sore and her eyes having a hard time keeping her eyes open, especially when a pair of warm hands wrapped around her, _so warm._

She once thought this warmth was gone, that it was forced out her grasp for the rest of her life. After being left alone, she would never again be able to experience this kind of warmth, that only cold loneliness will be her only companion, and with due time she grew into her title, Ice Queen. It hurt whenever she was called that, only serving to make her recall past memories of her old self, and her cold self. This warmth disagreed, drawing Weiss from her icy stupor, her icy blues locked onto silver ones.

"Weiss? Are you okay?" Ruby asked in a worried tone.

Weiss gave her a weak smile, "Did we win?"

"Uh. Yeah," Ruby let out a breathy laugh, "Geez don't scare me like that! You were acting so weird!" Ruby puffed her cheeks in annoyance as she scolded Weiss.

Weiss rolled her eyes, "Wow, how ironic. Now I'm the one causing trouble."

"Well I'm not the one wiping out a whole brigade of White Fang!" Ruby pouted

Weiss blinked, "What?"

"The twenty people you knocked out cold?" _Ha, pun, ha, shut up Ruby_ , Ruby winced at her own thought process and sighed.

"Glyphs were like everywhere!" Ruby extended her hands outward, which caused Weiss to roll her eyes again, "Then they just…collapsed."

"I don't…remember." Weiss shifted her gaze away

"Then...h-how did you…ya know," Ruby stammered, "do that...thing." _Where you turn really scary, oh my dust, I almost wet myself!_

"Ruby," Weiss quickly began, "I really don't know, okay?" She looked straight into Ruby's eyes, and grinned when she noticed a small blush on her face.

"Right, sorry…" Ruby replied quietly. An awkward silence formed between the two, due to the intense stare Ruby was giving Weiss

Weiss lifted an eyebrow, "You okay?"

Ruby snapped out of her trance, _Dang it Weiss, why do you have to be so gorgeous?!_ Is what she wanted to say but could only reply weakly, "Huh? Oh y-yea. Sorry, just a bit flabbergasted I guess."

Weiss giggled, "At least you said it right." This elicited a giggle from Ruby was well, "Oh and Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"You c-can let me go now." Weiss blushed, noticing the awkward position they were in, Ruby carrying her bridal style while gazing in her eyes. Ruby's face immediately turned red and immediately set Weiss to stand on the ground.

"Right! S-sorry you're just…really light." Ruby mumbled. Weiss let out a tsk, giving a quick run-down of Ruby.

The girl had certainly grown physically, Weiss can clearly tell beneath her long-sleeved clothing that under those were muscles, her torso growing noticeably wider and "certain places" have also developed. Her hair and clothing has seen better days, her hair grown but in a tangled mess and her once pristine cape now has noticeable tears, her clothing itself has changed from her Beacon days, her blouse once covering nearly every section of her skin, now décolletage, and her fully black and red outfit replaced with white sleeves . Ruby had also grown taller, as has Weiss, the two being almost exactly the same ratio of height back in Beacon. Aside from her physical growth, Weiss still knows the same childish, youthful Ruby she knew is still resonating well inside of her. The thought of someone like Ruby remaining optimistic and happy brings a smile to Weiss's face.

"Shut it." Weiss

The two spent a few moments checking for any injuries from the sudden ambush, relieved when they found none

"Sooo…" Ruby began, "you sure you okay?"

"A bit dizzy, but nothing bad." Weiss responded, "Why? Is something wrong with me?"

"No!" Ruby responded instantly, "You're perfect!" _Wait. WHAT?!_ Ruby mentally slapped herself when she found the meaning in her words. She couldn't stop the growing blush on her face, and neither can Weiss.

"I-if you say so." Weiss stuttered, _Did she just call me perfect?!_ She screamed inside her mind.

"Gals!" A voice came rushing forth when the rest of the team arrived, Jaune in front, "You guys hurt?"

"Nah, same old, same old." Ruby responded in mock boredom, she turned to find Weiss roll her eyes at her for the third time that day. "You guys?"

"Nah" Nora responded while Ren slightly shook his head, "These guys were like paper, I barely touched them then just go FLOP!"

"Yeah." Jaune added, "Thanks for the help, Weiss." Little to his or anyone's knowledge, Weiss does not consider herself the reason for the failure of the ambush, rather thinking she was knocked out for the majority of the fight.

"Ruby." Weiss stared daggers into her shivering teammate, "What happened during the fight?" she narrowed her eyes toward her prey who was trying to stand her ground

Until she broke

"Scary! Weiss! Glyphs! FLOP!" Ruby started yelling out random words in fear of an icy grave.

"What?! English! Or Atlasian if you know it!" Weiss yelled.

Ruby tried going for a curious angle, "Ooh Atlas has a native language?" she beamed

"Why yes, each of the four- WAIT A MINUTE." Weiss narrowed her eyes towards Ruby who was nervously rubbing the back of her head. Without giving her time to respond, Weiss froze Ruby's feet to the ground,

"Umm…Jaune, Nora, Ren? Help?" she smiled innocently but was responded with her teammates walking away from her

Ruby sighed, "Yay. Team."

* * *

"That…was an ambush?" Mercury rubbed his head in disappointment

Cinder's smile did not waver, "Quiet, it's simply a ruse."

Mercury gave her a confused look, "So, we like want them to know they're being attacked?"

"It will make the job of extracting that team's powers much harder." Cinder explained

"Harder?"

"Yes." Her smile grew, "Don't you like a challenge?"

 **A/N:** Good? Decent? Up to my standards?

Ruby: It was ok.

Weiss: Meh.

DAMN IT GIVE ME A BREAK

Weiss: You just took like three weeks off

AHHHHH!

Hope you enjoyed…please review.


	7. Chapter 7

Ruby: RWBY is completely owned by Rooster Teeth, this story has no affiliation with the actual story plot.

Weiss (in a cheerleader uniform): *lazily shakes pomp poms* woo…enjoy the story

Ruby: Weiss! A little more enthusiasm, please!

Weiss: You're not the one in this ridiculous outfit! And how'd you even get me in this thing anyway!?

Dunno. Ruby doesn't seem to mind though.

Ruby: *Sighs dreamily* Not in the slightest

Weiss: *growls*.PERVERTS BOTH OF YOU!

Enjoy!

* * *

"Weiss you okay?" Jaune called over from the front of the group

"Just fine." The ever-vigilant girl white-haired girl replied

"I mean, you just seem a bit-"

Just before Jaune was able to finish his sentence, the Snow Princess managed to trip on almost flat ground, sending her stumbling down to her knees, the pale skin managing to blend in effectively with the blanket of snow.

"Un-balanced?" Jaune finished, earning a glare from the heiress on the ground, he attempted to assist her but was only ignored.

"I'm just fine." Weiss said through gritted teeth, as she picked herself up from the ground, "Just a bit tired, it's no big deal, really."

The whole time Ruby was staring at her ivory-haired partner in concern. The White-Fang ambush triggered some sort of hidden switch within Weiss, the short transition into a separate persona chilled Ruby to her bones. The other 'Weiss' boasting a much darker and unstable aura, the aura so heavy it felt like a tangible object. Ruby shuddered to herself when she looked at Weiss, appalled that something that ominous and dark could come from someone like Weiss. The more Ruby thought about it, the scenario seemed more and more viable. Weiss is not one to share about her own feelings or past, often steering away a conversation whenever she is asked about her parents, while giving them a death glare.

"Weiss." Ruby asked quietly towards her partner, who was busy shaking snow off her dress.

"Hmm?" the white haired girl answered, annoyance creeping at the edge of her voice.

"W-when was the last time you rested properly?"

Weiss stood quietly for a few moments, Ruby could practically feel Weiss's body tense up "What kind of question is that?"

"Exactly how it sounds, you're usually not this…clumsy? I don't really know but you just seem tired."

Weiss let out a scoff, "Just because I tripped doesn't prove anythi-"she was cut off when a hand held her shoulder, Weiss looked over her shoulder to find Ren looking at her with a worried face

"We're just worried about you, Weiss. Just tell us what's hurting you. Please." Ren pleaded

Weiss took in his words for a moment, staring at her teammates before her all with equally worried expressions on their faces. Finally she relaxed letting out a long sigh. "After Beacon…I was forced to be brought back to Atlas. My father's personal soldiers even raised their rifles at me, I didn't want to leave, especially when I didn't know if Ruby was safe." Everyone was silent, a cold breeze being the only sound plausible to go with the story.

* * *

"Miss Schnee if you refuse to leave the area, we'll have no choice but to subdue you." The guard commanded in the calmest voice he could, His fellow soldier surveying the area, rifle raised towards any ambush points.

"Sir, Please!" The heiress responded, "My partner is still up there, I have to know if she's okay!"

"Vale is currently sending in evacuation troo-"

"You think a few soldiers can even get inside this area?!" Weiss loudly cut him off. "This is not some stupid escort mission, these Grimm will literally tear you apart!"

"Miss Schnee."

"And my partner is on top of that tower finding God knows what!" Weiss was practically screaming at this point, "If something were to happen to her I'd-"the heiress was interrupted when she sensed a huge buildup of heavy aura, Weiss snapped her gaze towards the tall building, her eyes turning wide-eyed.

A massive Dragon, always thought to come out of fairy tales with Princesses Weiss's mother always read, except this one was far more menacing. A bony exoskeleton plastered upon its face, acting as some sort of armor, the dragon's body itself sprouting bone-like thorns on its back. The wings itself, the membrane, having a seemingly glowing red color to it, the skin almost transparent. The beast hooked its claws onto the building, debris falling from its landing. Weiss could only stare in shock before her body moved itself. Only one thought in her mind _Ruby!_

The soldiers watched as the snow-haired girl ran towards the building, seemingly about to run straight into the wall, until a flash of glyphs adorned the wall, allowing the heiress to travel upward.

"Sir, the target refuses to co-operate, permission to subdue?" the soldier called into his earpiece.

A short burst of static was heard until a clear, deep voice was heard, "Permission granted."

The soldiers gave each other a small nod, they both loaded to their rifles with tranquilizer bullets, the sound of faint screaming interrupting them momentarily.

However Weiss heard it clear as crystal, It was most definitely Ruby _Pyrrha?!Why did she call for Pyrrha, unless…No!_

 _Nononono,_ The thought of one of her friend's dead sparked within Weiss, even within how drained she was she had to go, she had to protect Pyrrha and Ruby, with a burst of blue aura she propelled herself upwards, that is until she felt something resembling a needle enter her neck

"Ah!" Weiss yelped, she behind her neck to find something resembling of a dart, implanted on the back on her neck, and proceeded to yank it out. _What the-_

Weiss went wide-eyed when she noticed the liquid seeping out of the tip of the object. The sharp tip made exactly like a syringe, _No! NO!_ She screamed in her mind, her eyes already starting to succumb to the sedatives effects. She looked back at the tower, the sudden brilliant white light fading slowly. Weiss had failed to protect them, protect her. Only one thought was on her mind as she faded away into the darkness _Ruby_

* * *

Weiss had not moved from where she stood, taking in all of the shocked faces around her, Nora looking as if she was about to cry and was hiding herself in Ren's shoulders. Jaune was starting down into the floor, a pained expression showing on his face, certainly recalling the painful events that has occurred in the past. Ruby gave Weiss a look of sympathy, never knowing how much her partner cares for her, to the point of defying the most powerful man in Atlas for her. Without thinking she wrapped the heiress in a tight embrace.

Ruby was surprised of how cold her partner felt in her arms, as well as how shaky her breath seemed to be, she could make out soft mumbling behind her shoulder.

"It was my job to protect my teammates with my life." Weiss was now shaking, "And I couldn't even do that." She slowly breathed out. Ruby was having none of it, she pushed herself and Weiss apart to arm distance.

"Listen," Ruby looked directly into her partner's troubled eyes, those beautiful, usually confident blue pools having a much darker edge poured into them. "You're not at fault, Weiss, you were never at fault for what happened. So please, stop blaming yourself…you're only going to hurt yourself more…and me."

"But I left you, and Yang, and Blake too," Weiss looked down, trying to hide her face, "how is that you can still forgive me?"

Ruby just chuckled to Weiss's surprise, bringing her hands down to intertwine with the soft palms of the heiress, "Because we both made a promise to each other, duh." Weiss stared at her dumbfounded, "pshh, geez, Weiss, the promise we made not to leave each other's side?" she frowned when her partner still gave her a blank look, "Uh! Fine. Let's make it now!"

"M-make what now?"

"A promise, silly." Ruby stuck her tongue out in amusement, "here I'll go first, I Ruby Rose, promise never to leave my partner, Weiss Schnee's side at all cost, no matter the circumstance."

A few chuckles could be heard at the standing audience to the right of the duo, Weiss blushed in embarrassment, "Doesn't this seem a bit much?"

"Nope! You're turn!" Ruby folded her hands together behind her back, patiently waiting for her partner who was still hesitant to return the promise. It wasn't until the heiress finally cleared her throat that Ruby's eyes brightened.

"I-I, Weiss Schnee, promise to remain at my partner, R-Ruby Rose's side at all cost." Weiss's face was flushed red in embarrassment, which Ruby found ungodly cute.

"No matter…?" Ruby urged on

Weiss sighed, "N-no matter the circumstance, there! You happy?!"

"Very." Ruby grinned,

"Dolt."

"Oh wait, one more thing!" Ruby continued.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, "What now?"

"Cross your heart!"

Weiss's face immediately turned red, "Eh?!As if I'd do something so childish!"

"Regardless of age it's still a sign of a promise, and paper can be torn or burned, so it's a compromise." Ruby argued

"You are such a child."

"Well duh, I'm not even sixteen yet."

"No use arguing with you isn't there?" Weiss sighed.

"When it comes to serious matters like these, I mean business." Ruby retorted, "Now if I may." Ruby brought her hand towards her heart and proceeded to mark an invisible "x" mark on it. Ruby then gestured to do the shame. After a brief period of complaining of this childhood act, Weiss proceeded to do the same to her own heart.

"It's a promise?" Ruby beamed

Weiss gave her a genuine smile, "It's a promise, dunce."

 **A/N:** Please don't kill me I've only been gone for…yea…

Weiss: Your followers despise you and your lazy habits

Ruby: Slacker!

Yea…really sorry…school stuff and procrastination don't mix well


End file.
